Shabbat Shalom b'Tzuba

About three or so days ago I arrived here at Kibbutz Tzuba, 'nestled in the Judean Hills' in Israel. What has been only three days has seemed like a lifetime. To think that eighty one kids, myself included, would be spending the next four months here, learning about the land, culture, and people of Israel while continuing our regular studies at the same time - let's just say if you presented this idea to me at the start of high school,  I would have shaken it out of the picture by the time you could say "Bum didi bum bum bum." (more to come on that later) Now, being here after many long hours of nagging teachers for syllabi and completing the application process, I can say that this is truly an incredible experience. To wake up each morning and look out of my mirpeset (balcony) to see the sunrise - on clear days - over the hills seems unreal. The freedom that we kids are given to roam around the kibbutz and explore and discover; unreal as well. Don't get me wrong, I do miss my chilly, frozen over town in New York, but I'd give anything to make sure that these four months don't go as fast as they seem they could.

Although the internet is shoddy and the weather is a tad chilly (60 degrees - some of you would do anything for a number this high on your outside thermometer), we're still out and about doing everything we can. These past few days have flown by, and I've gotten to spend a great amount of time with my three roommates, Noah, Jason, and Yoni. After two days of painstakingly slow orientation, we received our Jewish History teachers as well as our General Studies teachers and finally started classes. Just the other day, we had a tzedaka trip, and the group I was assigned to was taken by bus to Saffat - the ancient agricultural structures of Jerusalem - to help rebuild what our ancestors had made many years ago. Not only did I find it interesting to continue such a different method of planting and harvesting, but the experience of building with those in my group was a great bonding experience, and I'm looking forward to more of these hopefully in the near future.

Today is Shabbat, so right now everyone's doing a bit of cleaning while I'm busy writing. Earlier today we went on a bus ride forty minutes south to ancient caves from the Bar Kochva Rebellion era (or even later - not sure) where we participated in an archeological dig. Although my roommates and I completely bashed this idea, saying that the leaders of the excavation put pieces of pots and coins back so that everyone can find something new, I have to say I definitely had fun. It was really interesting to see the ancient burial ways as well as the methods those living in the caves or the houses about them used to defend themselves from attacking Roman soldiers. I'm getting used to learning about all this history - apparently there's a lot more to come in the four months ahead of me. You'll definitely hear from me again.